LILIACEAE 



LILY FAMILY 



FALSE ASPHODEL 



Tofieldia glutinosa (Michx.) Pers. 



The False Asphodel is commonly found only in bogs through- 

 out a comparatively narrow range, Newfoundland and Maine 

 to Minnesota and Illinois, and in this state will be found probably 

 only in the bogs and moorlands of Lake 

 county. It is thus not a plant met ordinarily, 

 but one for which a search must be made. 



It is a perennial herb with a stem 6-20 

 inches tall, very hairy, and sticky because of 

 its numerous black glands. There are usually 

 2-4 leaves near the base and the rest are 

 strictly basal. Their blades are flat and narrow, 

 one-quarter inch wide and 2-7 inches long. 



The flowers, more or less clustered in 

 threes, appear from June to August in a 

 terminal raceme which is 1-2 inches long in 

 flower and longer in fruit. The pedicels are 

 covered with glands like those ot the stem. 

 The 6 very thin and greenish white segments 

 of the perianth remain on the maturing fruit. 

 There are 6 stamens with slender filaments. 

 The 3-celled capsule is oblong and about 

 twice as long as the perianth. It contains 

 many seeds, each of which has a slender 

 taillike appendage at either end. 



And nearer to the river's trembling edge 

 There grew broad flag flowers, purple 

 prankt with white, 

 And starry river buds among the sedge, 

 And floating water lilies, broad and 

 _ bright, 

 Which lit the oak that overhung the hedge 

 With moonlight beams of their own 

 watery light; 

 And bulrushes, and reeds of such deep green 

 As soothed the dazzled eye with sober sheen. 



The Question — Percy Bvsshe Shelley 



49 



